Tuesday, April 30, 2013

We spent 11 days visiting the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin in March of 2013 for our honeymoon.

This blog entry will cover the day trip we took to Pinel Island. I also have another entry on all of the beaches we visited within the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin here.

Pinel Island is located on the French side of the island, a quick five minute ferry ride from French Cul-de-Sac, which is just a few minutes north of Orient Bay. The ferry runs every 30 minutes and during the day we visited, they were operating multiple ferries for each crossing time.

Ferry arriving to pick up passengers to go to Pinel Island.

Pinel Island is extremely small and it would probably only take 20 minutes to walk around its entire perimeter. The most popular beaches on the island are located directly next to the ferry dock. There are two main restaurants on the island and both offer plenty of chair and umbrella rentals. We didn't end up making it to the island until about noon and it was already extremely crowded. In hindsight, we should have arrived by ten at the latest so that we could have snagged some chairs. Instead, we went and had lunch at Karibuniin hopes that some chairs would free up while we waited.

Pinel Island as viewed from the ferry dock.

Pinel Island as viewed from the ferry dock.

Pinel Island

Pinel Island

Karibuniserves a variety of tapas, salads, burgers, and barbecue fare. It was quite hot out that day and the only items on their menu that sounded appealing to me were the salads. As a result, I ordered the Salade Italienne (green salad, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, prosciutto, onions, melon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh basil). My salad not only looked beautiful but also tasted amazing. It was light and hearty at the same time, which was perfect for the temperature that day. Shyawn ordered the Fish Burger which came with a small salad and fries. Although I didn't have any bites of his sandwich (which he stated was quite tasty) I did eat at least half of his fries, which were incredibly delicious and crispy, exactly the way I like them! Overall, we were very impressed with our meal at Karibuni and would highly recommend it to anyone who visits Pinel Island.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

We spent 11 days visiting the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin in March of 2013 for our honeymoon.

This blog entry will cover the day trip we took to the nearby island of Anguilla.

Prior to planning our trip to St. Martin, I had never even honestly heard of the tiny island of Anguilla. However, while completing research for the trip, I read many rave reviews and recommendations for the island. Anguilla is known by many as being one of the most beautiful islands in the entire Caribbean. In comparison to nearby islands (such as St. Martin, St. Barts, the US Virgin islands, etc) Anguilla has remained relatively isolated due to the fact that the only way to reach the island is either by boat or via a small plane from a neighboring island (St. Martin, Puerto Rico, Antigua, St. Kitts). Because there are no direct flights to the island from mainland North America, the island has remained serene and uncrowded. Anguilla is famous for its secluded white powder beaches and aquamarine waters, its high-end luxurious properties, and its sophisticated dining scene. Unlike St. Martin or St. Barts, Anguilla is not known for its shopping, so don't come here expecting to find fancy designer stores; they simply don't exist. The island is long, narrow and flat, making it so much easier to drive on compared to the windy roads of St. Martin and St. Barts. Anguilla is a British overseas territory, which means that drivers drive on the left side of the road. The island uses a currency called the East Caribbean dollar although the US dollar is widely accepted.

Lucky for those who visit St. Martin, the island of Anguilla is located just a quick 20-25 minute ferry ride away from the town of Marigot, located on the French side of the island. After boarding the ferry, try to grab a window seat so that you can enjoy the passing views and scenery.

Marigot Harbor

Marigot Harbor

Marigot Harbor

Marigot Harbor

Marigot Harbor

Marigot Harbor

Marigot Harbor

Marigot Harbor

Ferry ride from St. Martin to Anguilla.

Ferry ride from St. Martin to Anguilla.

Ferry ride from St. Martin to Anguilla.

Ferry ride from St. Martin to Anguilla.

Approaching Anguilla from St. Martin.

Ferry ride from St. Martin to Anguilla.

The ferry will eventually bring you to Blowing Point Harbor, where you will be required to go through customs, so don't forget your passport! Directly outside of passport control are car rental vendors. We had reserved our car rental ahead of time through the highly recommended Andy's Car Rental. Andy himself was actually waiting for us as soon as we stepped off of the boat, allowing the rental process to go very smoothly and without confusion. As previously mentioned, when renting a car you'll have to be ready to drive on the left side of the road. However, once you've got that down, driving will be a breeze since the island is flat, sparsely populated, and only has two major traffic lights.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

We spent 11 days visiting the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin in March of 2013 for our honeymoon.

This blog entry will cover the many restaurants we experienced throughout our trip.

The dining scene on St. Martin is well-known for being one of the most impressive and famous in the Caribbean. The island is considered by many food experts as being the food capital of the Caribbean. Although the island is just a mere 37 square miles big, there are an astounding 400 plus restaurants to choose from! This made it quite difficult for me to narrow down exactly where we were going to eat. I literally had several dozen too many choices! During my research, I consulted Trip Advisor as well as referencing my two guidebooks (Frommer's Portable & Fodor's In Focus) to narrow down the long list. Being that the island has both French and Dutch influence, most of the restaurants are European, although many have a Caribbean flare.

Although there are restaurants located all over the island, there is one town in particular that receives more accolades and dining praises than any other, which is Grand Case. This tiny town has been thrown into the international spotlight from its famous "restaurant row" where dozens of high end dining establishments line Boulevard de Grand Case. We ate nearly half of our meals in this lovely town, located on the French side of the island. If you make your way to Grand Case, beware of the parking situation; the town has just one small lot which tends to fill up very quickly. Arrive early or else you will find yourself driving in circles attempting to find street parking along with dozens of others! On Tuesday evenings during high season (January to April), Boulevard de Grand Case is closed off to traffic due to the weekly Harmony Nights festival which involves a parade, musicians, street food, and local vendors. If you happen to be in St. Martin during these months I highly recommend that you make an effort to experience this lively festival.

No matter where we ate dinner on the island, we noticed that most restaurants didn't fill up with patrons until 8 PM or even later. We actually preferred to eat earlier, typically around 6:30-7:00 so that there would be at least some daylight left. It is recommended to always make your dinner reservations in advance; most restaurants allow you to complete your reservation via email but a few require that you actually call to make the reservation over the phone. All of the restaurants we visited had staff that spoke both French and English, so there is no need to worry about any language barriers.

The one commonality we found at every restaurant we visited was that they all had some form of seafood on the menu and it was always of excellent quality. Seafood lovers will love this island!

Food in general on the island is expensive no matter where you go. Most restaurants on the French side use the Euro (although a few places will allow you to pay using cash U.S. dollars at a one-to-one exchange rate) and all the restaurants we ate at on the Dutch side used the Dollar. If you want to experience fine dining on the French side, be prepared to spend at least 100E for one appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert.

For our first few nights out, we got conjured into ordering bottled water. However, after tasting the tap water at our condo, we realized it was completely unnecessary to be ordering 7 Euro bottles of water. The tap water on the island is clean and tastes great! Also, be aware that a service charge is sometimes included on the bill so always double check before tipping!

In addition to being well know for its plethora of fine dining establishments, St. Martin is also famous for its abundance of barbecue stands, referred to locally as lolos. You will see these lolo stands all over the island. Two of the more famous ones are located on Restaurant Row in Grand Case and several more are located near the harbor in Marigot.

To save some money, we utilized the grocery store for breakfast and snack items. Although the pricing at the grocery stores on St. Martin is much higher than you would pay back home, it's still obviously less expensive than what you would pay for a meal out.

Below is a list of the restaurants we ate at on our trip, organized by the French and Dutch side, and finally by each city. Further below you will find a detailed review of each place.

La Villa:
This incredible French restaurant is located along Grand Case's famed restaurant row and is the top rated restaurant on the entire island per Trip Advisor. Due to the restaurant's popularity, I made sure to make our reservation several weeks in advance on their website. Like with most of the restaurants on the island, La Villa features open air dining and exposed wooden rafters. The restaurant is dimly lit, which makes for a romantic dining experience for most, but a photography nightmare for me.

Exterior of La Villa

La Villa

La Villa

La Villa

To start our evening we were provided an amuse-bouche of a cold vegetable soup. This was crisp and delicious and Shyawn and I had fun trying to discern exactly which vegetables were used to create the soup.

Amuse bouche at La Villa.

Enjoying our meal at La Villa.

Unlike most of the fine dining restaurants on the island, La Villa offers its guests a prix fixe menu. This great value includes your choice of any soup or appetizer, any main course, and any dessert for 49 Euro per person. Additionally, La Villa was one of the few restaurants in Grand Case that allowed a 1 for 1 exchange for Euro to Dollar, making this prix fixe menu an even better value.

For an appetizer, Shyawn selected the Lobster Ravioli with a lightly flavored ginger cream sauce. The pasta was very delicious and Shyawn commented that he wished there had been more ravioli to eat!

Lobster Ravioli at La Villa.

Choosing my appetizer from the menu was quite easy. As soon as I saw the listing for Crab Meat Profiteroles with avocado guacamole and fresh tomato tartar it was a no-brainer as both crab and avocados are two of my top favorite food items. This dish was definitely one of my favorites of the entire trip. The crab, avocado, and tomato that were sandwiched between two layers of pastry melded together in perfect harmony. I ate this dish as slowly as I could, savoring every single bite.

Crab Meat Profiteroles at La Villa.

Crab Meat Profiteroles at La Villa.

For my entree selection, I went with the Seared Black Pepper Crust Tuna Steak with soy and sesame oil sauce, asparagus tip risotto, ginger, and wasabi. This dish was yet another standout on the trip. The tuna was incredibly delicious, moist, flavorful, and, of course, paired perfectly with the wasabi. I also thoroughly enjoyed the asparagus tip risotto which was a soothing reprieve to my palette from the spicy wasabi.

Seared Black Pepper Crust Tuna Steak at La Villa.

Shyawn's entree choice was one of the specials of the evening, the Red Snapper Fillet Roll with Lobster, mashed plantain, fennel sauce. This was yet another strong and memorable dish.

Red Snapper Fillet Roll with Lobster at La Villa.

Our visit to La Villa happened to occur on a Tuesday, which is when the weekly Harmony Nights festival occurs. From January through April, this weekly event features a street festival as well as a parade with live music and dancing. We were able to view the parade from our seats and one of the costumed women came into the restaurant enabling me to snap a few pictures of her beautiful costume!

Harmony Night in Grand Case.

Harmony Night in Grand Case.

One of the performers from Harmony Night in Grand Case.

One of the performers from Harmony Night in Grand Case.

After the excitement of the parade, our desserts arrived. Shyawn chose the Hot Chocolate Cake with melted center, vanilla ice cream while I went with my personal French dessert favorite of Hot Chocolate Profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and grilled almonds. If you ever find yourself in this restaurant, please do yourself a massive favor and order the hot chocolate cake. I can assure you beyond a reasonable doubt that you will be thankful for this tip. The chocolate cake was incredible in every way; the cake was moist, warm, extremely rich, and the chocolate center that came oozing out of the cake was beyond decadent. The vanilla ice cream on the side was a nice addition to help subdue the richness of the chocolate.

Hot Chocolate Cake at La Villa.

The ice cream portion of the Hot Chocolate Cake at La Villa.

My profiteroles were quite delicious on their own, although it is slightly unfair to compare as they just couldn't even come close to the hot chocolate cake. You'll have to eat these quickly as the chocolate sauce on top is as the description indicates hot and the ice cream melts quite quickly.

Hot Chocolate Profiteroles from La Villa.

La Villa lived up to its number one rating on Trip Advisor. Overall, it was definitely the best meal we had on the entire trip. Every single dish was amazing and if you only have time for one restaurant while on St. Martin, make sure its this one!

Le Pressoir:
Located inside a restored 19th century Creole cottage in Grand Case, this wonderful and charming restaurant serves its patrons beautifully presented food that combines both traditional French and contemporary cuisine.

Le Pressoir

Le Pressoir

Le Pressoir

Le Pressoir

Le Pressoir

I loved the container that the butter was placed in for the bread service.

Butter for the bread service at Le Pressoir.

Bread service at Le Pressoir.

For an appetizer, we decided to split the Fricasse of Langoustines with baby veggies and reduction of lobster broth. Although we did not request this, the restaurant literally split the appetizer into two separate portions, which was a nice gesture. This appetizer was very delicious and a strong start to our meal. The langoustine was cooked perfectly and paired wonderfully with the lobster broth. Additionally, there was some sort of crispy noodle that was served with the dish creating not only a unique presentation but also providing great texture when eaten with the rest of the dish.

Fricasse of Langoustines at Le Pressoir.

Fricasse of Langoustines at Le Pressoir.

For our entrees, we both decided on the same dish, the Crispy Grilled Mahi-Mahi Fillet breaded with cruesli, and saffron sauce. Although it is quite unusual for us to order the same dish, we both love mahi-mahi and saffron and neither one of us could pull ourselves away from ordering it! Every aspect of the dish not only looked great, but also tasted delicious. The fish was cooked perfectly and tasted great with the accompanied ratatouille.

Crispy Grilled Mahi-Mahi Fillet at Le Pressoir.

Crispy Grilled Mahi-Mahi Fillet at Le Pressoir.

Prior to dessert arriving, Shyawn ordered a Cafe Latte in an attempt to perk himself up which he stated was extremely good and of the best quality.

Cafe Latte from Le Pressoir.

We decided to split dessert and went with one of their daily specials. Unfortunately, I misplaced the receipt that the restaurant had so kindly written down the name and details of the dessert. The dish was a medley of fruit slices, raspberry sauce, a tiny piece of cake with apple gelee, and a chocolate dipped marshmallow. It was all very delicious, especially the fruit and the cake.

Dessert from Le Pressoir.

Dessert from Le Pressoir.

Dessert from Le Pressoir.

Le Pressoir is a great choice for those looking for a wonderful and intimate French meal in Grand Case. It was one of our top five favorite restaurants on the island.

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About Me

I am an avid traveler, amateur photographer, and self-proclaimed foodie whose biggest passion in life involves discovering new places, people, and food. Long ago, I decided to make travel the most important priority in my life.
Traveling has altered my life in more ways than I will ever be able to describe. One of the biggest and most important things traveling has done to me is immensely change the way I measure quality of life. Travel has also broadened my perspectives and helped me realize that not everyone has the so-called “American Dream” and that having less things in life can actually make you a happier and more fulfilled human being. Through my travels I have gained a huge appreciation for cultural, political, and religious differences and diversity.
This blog will allow me to document all of my amazing travels, life-changing experiences, delicious food, and the interesting interactions I encounter as I travel through this very beautiful and diverse world.